Lord Coe trashes Spurs plan for Olympic stadium

Lord Coe has waded into the increasingly bitter battle for the Olympic Stadium by claiming Britain’s international reputation would be ‘trashed’ if Tottenham’s plans were approved.

The Olympic Stadium: Lord Coe said Spurs’ plans to make the stadium a football-only venue would ‘trash our international reputation’ (AP)

Coe believes his pledge to the International Olympic Committee in 2005, when London was chosen as 2012 hosts, to ensure a multi-sport legacy at the stadium in Stratford would not be met by Spurs.

Tottenham, who should find out on Friday whether they or West Ham are the preferred bidder for the right to occupy the stadium after the Games, would rebuild the ground as a football-only venue, while redeveloping the Crystal Palace athletics stadium.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy believes what his club proposes would ‘over-deliver’ on the 2005 pledge. But Coe said: ‘It’s really serious we deliver on what we said we were going to deliver, unless we are prepared to trash our international reputation.

‘If we don’t, it would be difficult to be taken seriously in the corridors of world sport.

‘I remember delivering a vision about a generation of young people being inspired to take up Olympic sports. I’m prepared to revisit my words that day but I genuinely don’t recall a whole heap about bulldozing down a publicly-funded facility, replacing it with a Premiership football club and inspiring a generation of Tottenham season-ticket holders.’

Coe, the London 2012 chairman, supports West Ham’s proposal to retain the athletics track at the site, saying their bid ‘meets those commitments’.

He added: ‘I find it inconceivable grandparents will take children back to a Premiership football ground and say somewhere among this lies dormant the memories of Jessica Ennis or Usain Bolt reaching the heights of sport. It just does not smell right.’

Levy hit back, saying: ‘Let’s deal with fact rather than emotion. Surely it’s a better legacy if you have a world-class stadium that is full throughout the year and a dedicated athletics venue in South London?’

West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady disagreed. ‘It would be a crying shame if the stadium were to be built on the back of a promise made in the Queen’s name only to be pulled down,’ she said.

‘Spurs’ bid is the equivalent of building 100 new primary schools and then bulldozing each and every one of them four weeks after they’ve been built.’